Troops battle B’Haram in Borno, recapture Fatori

Nigeria’s military on Wednesday said regional troops had recaptured a town on the shores of Lake Chad from Boko Haram, but the Islamists claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties, the AFP has reported.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, who confirmed the clash, said that several of the insurgents were killed in the ongoing operation.

According to him, the troops were able to overpower the insurgents at Mallam Fatori during the operation, which also involved the fighter jets of the Nigerian Air Force

Usman said that the terrorists left the area and had gathered around the nation’s border with Niger.

He said, “As part of Operation  Gama Aiki, troops of Operation Lafiya Dole and Multinational Joint Task Force captured Mallam Fatori in the northern part of Borno State, after a fierce battle closely covered by air operations.

“However, the  terrorists reinforced around the border with Niger Republic.

“This was while the troops were consolidating on this success. The troops killed several of the Boko Haram terrorists in the  resulting encounter and subsequently had to withdraw to a vantage position.  The operation continues.”

Usman said its troops and counterparts from the Multinational Joint Task Force had “captured Mallam Fatori… after a fierce battle” backed by air support.

But “the terrorists reinforced around (the) border with Niger… while the troops were consolidating on this success,” he added in an emailed statement.

Mallam Fatori, in Borno State, was liberated in March last year as part of a regional counter-offensive against the Islamists, who had captured swathes of territory in north-eastern Nigeria in 2014.

But fighters from Boko Haram, which is affiliated to the Islamic State group and now calls itself Islamic State West Africa Province, reoccupied the town after troops left.

The MNJTF is made up of soldiers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin.

Northern Borno State, which is near the border with Niger, is inaccessible because of insecurity with Boko Haram.

There have been an increasing number of attacks in south-eastern Niger in recent weeks, an indication that rebels have re-grouped and switched focus.

Boko Haram claimed its fighters, which it dubbed “the cavalry of the caliphate”, attacked the regional force.

Punch